Nov 7, 2022
Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD
Educational Pearls:
- Recent study evaluated if early exposure to an allergen impacted the rate of allergy development later in childhood
- Children were exposed to peanut, milk, wheat, and egg allergens at 3 months of age and then followed for 3 years
- 2.5-3% of children who were not exposed developed allergies to these allergens
- 1% of children exposed to the allergens developed allergies to these allerrgens
- Exposing 63 children to allergens at 3 months would prevent the development of food allergy in one child with no significant adverse events
- Future recommendations will likely be to gradually introduce allergens to children starting around 3 months
References
Skjerven HO, Lie A, Vettukattil R, et al. Early food intervention and skin emollients to prevent food allergy in young children (PreventADALL): a factorial, multicentre, cluster-randomised trial. Lancet. Jun 25 2022;399(10344):2398-2411. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(22)00687-0
Summarized by Mark O’Brien, MS4 | Edited by John Spartz, MD, & Erik Verzemnieks, MD
